Justice Department appoints Tony West to No. 3 spot

The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced yesterday that it has appointed one of its longtime lawyers, Tony West, as the new acting associate attorney general. The appointment, which West will take over in two weeks, puts him in the No. 3 position at the DOJ.

Currently, as the head of the department’s civil division, West has led the effort to overturn the controversial immigration laws that Arizona, Alabama, South Carolina and Utah recently passed. In his new role as acting associate attorney general, West will manage a broad range of issues, including civil rights, environment and natural resources, tax and civil litigation.

In 1993, West took his first position with the DOJ as special assistant to the deputy general during the Clinton administration. He later went on to become an assistant U.S. attorney in the Northern District of California. In 2001, he took a partner position at Morrison & Foerster before returning to the DOJ as head of the civil division when President Obama took office in January 2009.